- Finitri has been declared winner of the Adamawa State governorship election
The Returning Officer for the Adamawa State governorship election, Prof Mohammed Mele, on Tuesday declared Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, the winner of the state governorship poll.
Fintiri secured a second term in office having scored 430,861 votes to beat the rival All Progressives Congress candidate, Aisha Dahiru, popularly known as Binani, who amassed 398,788 votes.
Also on Tuesday, the Independent National Electoral Commission said it had asked the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, to draw the attention of “the appointing authority’’ to the behaviour of the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Hudu Yunusa-Ari.
Fintiri’s victory took place 48 hours after Binani was controversially declared the governor-elect by Yunusa-Ari.
Binani was trailing Fintiri by over 31, 000 votes in the first round of the election held on March 18.
The electoral agency had declared the exercise inconclusive because the margin of lead did not exceed the number of cancelled votes in 69 polling units with 37, 016 voters.
The collation of results of the April 15 supplementary election was going on when the REC took over the duty of the returning officer and announced the APC candidate as the winner sparking an uproar.
In response, INEC promptly declared his action null and void and also summoned the REC and his colleagues in the Adamawa State office to Abuja.
The commission in a letter by the Secretary to the Commission, Rose Oriaran-Anthony further barred Yunusa-Ari from coming to the office and directed the Administrative Secretary to take charge of the INEC office in the state.
Mele at the resumed collation of the results on Tuesday pronounced Fintiri as the election winner to a wild jubilation by the anxious residents of the state.
The event was witnessed by the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye.
Announcing the winner, the returning officer said, “Ahmadu Fintiri, having satisfied the requirement of the law, is hereby returned duly re-elected.”
The total number of registered voters was 2,196, 566 while the accredited voters were put at 876,387.
The returning officer said the valid votes were 853,819, rejected votes, were 15,287 and the total votes cast were 869,106.
Yunusa-Ari’s conduct
Giving an update on Yunusa-Ari’s unethical conduct after a meeting of its management comprising national commissioners and the INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, in Abuja on Tuesday, the electoral umpire requested the SGF to call the attention of “the appointing authority’’ to the unwholesome behaviour of the REC for further action.
Under the constitution, the appointing authority refers to the President who is empowered to appoint INEC commissioners as provided by section 154 (1) of the 1999 Constitution.
The section provides that: “Except in the case of ex officio members or where other provisions are made in this Constitution, the chairman and members of any of the bodies so established shall, subject to the provisions of this Constitution, be appointed by the President and the appointment shall be subject to confirmation by the Senate.’’
To remove a REC, the President can only act on an address by a two-thirds majority of the Senate in accordance with section 6(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022.
Disclosing the decisions reached the meeting on its official Twitter handle, the INEC said, “At its meeting today, April 18, 2023, the commission discussed matters arising from the Adamawa governorship election and decided to:
“Write to the Inspector-General of Police for the immediate investigation and possible prosecution of the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Adamawa State, Barrister Hudu Yunusa-Ari.
“Request the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to draw the attention of the appointing authority to the unwholesome behaviour of the REC for further action.
“The collation process shall resume at a time to be determined by the returning officer.’’
In line with the INEC resolution, the Nigeria Police Force has promised to probe the incident at the Adamawa collation centre in collaboration with the electoral electoral commission.
Responding to an inquiry by our correspondent on Tuesday, the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, noted that the police had yet to receive the letter from INEC, adding that the police will, however, collaborate with the electoral umpire to investigate the matter.
He further noted that the IGP had ordered the immediate redeployment of the Commissioner of Police on election duty in Adamawa State, Mohammed Barde from the state, and ordered that the CP in charge of Gombe State, Etim Equa, immediately proceed to Adamawa.
Adejobi said, “We have not received any letter (from INEC), but we will carry out a thorough investigation on the Adamawa incident in collaboration with the INEC. So, if INEC sends in any letter, we will treat it as recommended as well.
“Also, the IGP has ordered the redeployment of the CP-election, Adamawa, and replaced him with CP Gombe, Etim Oqua, who has been directed to proceed to Yola immediately for the conclusion of the guber election process in Adamawa. We are committed to having a more secure and successful process in Adamawa.”
